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FOLKUS Aug-Sept 2009 |
Folk you. Whatever folks your boat. Folk gets in your ears. Yes, ‘Folk’ is one of those glorious words that lends itself to – nay, demands – excessive punning. When various friends and ne’er-do-wells learned I had a spanking new column in Shindig!, a frantic naming competition ensued; although for geeky points as well as amusement value I would have liked to christen it Folksee Mcfolk And The Folkan Lancers Of The Sacred Folk, sense prevailed and I settled on Folkus. That succinct and catchy idea came from my sharp friend Renee, and I thank her because I certainly would never have come up with anything half as decent. There are two really quite special new albums out to bless this maiden voyage. The first is Thought Becomes Reality (Mythical Cake), the third long-player from prog-folkies CIRCULUS. Their truly inspired mix of madrigals, pop guitar and English absurdity has never sounded better and they are extraordinarily deft at surfing both the waves of whimsy and the swells of intensity. Witness the twee-feast that is ‘Michael’s Garden’ snuggled up to the crunchy psych-folk of ‘Packington’s Pound’ with only a frenzied jig to separate them. You’re never sure how seriously you’re meant to take them and they seem to care very little about what anyone thinks anyway, and for that I applaud these spirited sprites. The other big favourite this issue, and totally different to the Technicolor Tudor pixies of Circulus, is EMMA TRICCA’s Minor White (Bird). This is delicate folk of the highest quality; her songs are beguilingly poetic and the clear, affecting lyrics are matched by her eerie, yet very touching vocals. While there are a few nods to Greenwich Village culture and to Vashti Bunyan, even Karen Dalton in places, Tricca is her own women and these songs are a gentle species, nurtured until they bloom, or until the cruel wind whips them away. Lovely, lovely, lovely. The great female stuff continues with two very good 7” singles. BETH JEANS HOUGHTON is only eighteen years old and looks uber-chic with her big eyelashes and neon clothing. On the basis of her image alone, she seems to have attracted the anti-folk tag but her songs don’t really bear that label out. There’s more than a touch of playful pop to her second single ‘Golden’ / ‘Night Swimmer’ (Static Caravan) it’s true, but her underlying respect for folk is undeniable and admirable. Houghton released her first single last year on the Bird label, an offshoot of Finders Keepers that is rapidly becoming a byword for diverse and captivating folk output. Along with Houghton and Tricca, Bird has also given us the first recorded fruits from a Welsh lady named Someone else who means it is LEIGH GREGORY on Rainy Season Never Ends (Vollwert-Records). The Mellow Drunk front man vacillates between bitterness and beauty on his second solo album; imagine Donovan recording the Elliot Smith songbook while The Incredible String Band occasionally wander in and you’ve got the idea. Not the most original album but definitely pleasing, with the luscious ‘Rowena Is Queen’ the undoubted apex. For those leaning towards the alt.country end of things, the self-titled album by THIS FRONTIER NEEDS HEROES (self-released), with its dirty-blues beat and delicate song craft is a debut with spark. It sometimes drifts a bit too far into Laurel Canyon territory for my tastes but on certain tracks – notably ‘Leopard Eyes’ – there’s a really effective tension between the duelling harmonies of brother-sister team Jessica and Brad Lauretti. The other slice of Americana pie worthy of note comes from FORT KING, the solo project of an LA-based chap called Ryan Fuller. His album Naked Shadows (Autumn Ferment) has shades of psych-folk, with some beautiful dulcimer and cello in particular, but his lyrics are a bit lacking in emotional resonance as he tries too hard to be clever-clever. While it’s almost cheating to include My Only Companion (self-released) by THE DIAMOND CENTER in a folk column, it would be equally challenging to put it anywhere else. Odd bits of indie folk jostle for position with swamp rock, psychedelia and crazy surfing guitar all crowned by what sounds like April March and Nick Cave battling to see who can sound more aloof. I did like this, though; along with its commendable ability to swerve out of genres, it had a strange friction to it, a rough-hewn charm-bracelet of an album not afraid to give you splinters. Although it’s a natural tendency to dig deeper and deeper into a genre you groove on, sometimes it’s just fantastic to have a compact little reminder of what got you there in the first place. That’s why hearing the VARIOUS ARTISTS three CD set Meet On The Ledge: An Island Records Folk-Rock Anthology is an absolute joy. While obviously featuring the label’s big hitters like Nick Drake and Sandy Denny, they don’t overtake the project at all and there’s still plenty of space for the various intriguing cul-de-sacs of folk-rock history. The remarkable Dr. Strangely Strange get a well-deserved inclusion, as do the early ’70s heavier and switched-on incarnation of The Incredible String Band. The persistently underrated output of Richard & Linda Thompson is also featured prominently. As to be expected, various members of Fairport Convention pop up everywhere and the evolution of the band itself is well highlighted; from the pioneering ‘She Moves Through The Fair’, through the always-stunning ‘Matty Groves’ and one of the most effusive tracks from the early Dave Swarbrick era, ‘Dirty Linen’. The box set all comes at a budget price too, certainly worth it so you can cut a few capers at any opportunity to ‘The Nutting Girl’ by another Fairport branch, the fabulous electrified Morris dancing project Morris On. Bells and handkerchiefs optional, but recommended. www.myspace.com/circulus |
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